Acetylene-gas generator.



B. W. SHOWALTER. AGETYLBNB GAS GENERATOR.

LPPLIoATron Hum 1920.8. 1910.

Patented Apr. 1'1, 191.1.

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Inventor Attorneys nu' :uuml: rrr'l'ns m. immensi'. I. t

E. w. sHoWALTBR.

GETYLBNE GAS GENERATOR.

LPPLIGTIOK FILED DEG. B. 1910. y

` Patented Apr. 11, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEBT 2.

Inventor y l r l Attorneys nx nouns rrrnn cm 'Avian-mu. n. r.

f UNITED STATES ERASMUS W. SHOWALTER, OF CLAYPUOL, INDIANA.

ACETYLENE-GAS GENERATOR.

Specication of Letters Patent. Patented Apr. 11, 1911.

Application :tiled December 8, 1910. Serial No. 596,288.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERASMLS lV. SHO- wALTEn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Claypool, in the county of Kosciusko and State of Indiana, have invented,

a new and useful Acetylene-Gas Generator, of which the following is a specitication.

This invention relates to acetylene gas generators, and more especially to those employing a rotating cylinder beneath the water feed; and the object of the same is to produce a compact and economical gas plant of this kind intended usually to be made on 'a scale for the purpose of lighting single residences or otlices.

A further object is to obviate as far as possible the danger of explosion, to render the carbid cage o1' cylinder removable as for cleansing or repair, and to improve other details.

lVith these ends in view the invention consists in the construction described and claimed below, and as shown in the drawings wherein L Figures 1 and 2 are vertical sections at right angles to each other, Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section, and Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail of the water valve.

In the drawings the numeral l designates the main casing or tank, and 2 is a secondary and preferably concentric tank located with-l in the main tank and constituting a. basin or receptacle for the slacked carbid. By preference these members are cylindrical and with their walls spaced as seen in Fig. 3, and both are open at the upper end and closed at the lower end; and into the annular space between them is poured water as shown so as to form a seal for the inverted tank or bell 3 which as usual in gas plants has a closed top and an open lower end. In this case it also has a gas overflow pipe 4 and hose 40 to outside the building, and an air valve 5 for use in exhausting the accumulated gas when desired. The basin may be emptied through an outlet nozzle or faucet 6; Aand 7 designates the gas outlet or service pipe which leads to any suitable point of use, and is preferably controlled by a valve 8.

The carbid holder is a cylinder, or more -properly a cage, of wire netting as usual, indicated by the reference numeral 10, here shown as disposed about an axis 11 whose extremities rotate in hangers 12 having hooks 13 at their upper ends removably engaging over the mouth of the basin 2. By these means the entire cage can be removed and replaced when the. bell 3 is out of po# sition. Fixed around the body 10 is a rather 60 thin ratchet wheel 14 whose teeth are engaged by a spring pawl 15 fixed within the basin; and secured beneath the bell at the point 1G is a toothed bar or actuating rack 17 which passes down by the other side of 65 the ratchet wheel 1l as best seen in Fig. 1 and is slightly V-shaped in section. as, seen in Fig. 3. Hence when the bell rises the toothed bar 1T turns the wheel 1-1 which is held in the angle of the bar, and with it the cage, thc pawl 15 permitting; but when the bell descends the toothed bar 17 slips overA the teeth of the ratchetwhile the retaining pawl 15 holds the wheel against rotation.

Mounted upon the top of the bell (and 7 it may be entirely removable therefrom) is the reservoir 20, here shown as a cup having an open top and a closed bottom through which latter projects the outlet best seen in Fig. et. Said outlet is a pipe 21 fixed through 80 the bottom of the reservoir and preferably having a reduced bore 22 at its lower end which projects removably through the top of thc bell so that the whole reservoir can be lifted oft'. Above said bore is a Valve seat 85 23, and above the seat are side inlets 25 which communicate with the interior of the reservoir. IVithin the pipe 21 is a weighted plunger 2G flexibly supported from overhead as by a chain 27 which leads upward 90 to a point sufficiently high above the reservoir to permit the entire bell and .reservoir to be lifted out of place when desired. In the present instance this support is shown as an arm 2S carried by an upright rod 29 95 which is fastened as at 30 upon the exterior of the main tank 21 so that the entire apparatus shall be portable; although if the gas plant is to remain stationary, the exible support 27 will be attached to any point 100 overhead provided it is suilicicntly elevated to accomplish the purpose explained above. The tank may carry guides 31. on its exterior, and the bell may have guide rods 32 sliding through them for the obvious purpose of permitting these parts to move telescopically without their walls coming into actual contact. As above suggested, the whole is preferably of a size to adapt itto use for generating sullicient gas to supply a single dwellpear as shown in Fig. 2.

ing or store, although it is not beyond the possibilities of my invention that itmay be built on a larger scale. v

In operation, the reservoir 2O is filled nearly full of water and carbid crystals packed into the cage 10 as seen, and when the parts are first assembled they will apgrasps the plunger 26 and raises it slightly, and this lets water flow from the reservoir through the inlets 25, over the valve seat :'23 now uncovered by the tip of the plunger, and down the bore Q2 of the pipe 21 from whose lower end it drops at a convenient point upon the carbid within the cage. Gas

being thereby generated as is well known,

the unoccupied space within the basin 2 is filled above and below the cage and the interior of the bell above the water seal, and when the pressure becomes sufficient to raise the bell and the weight of the water in the l reservoir, the pipe 2l is carried upward and its valve seat 9.3 closes against the lower end of the plunger; and if the rising continues the flexible support- 27 will permit it. without. damage to parts. Meanwhile if the gas pressure should become excessive it can blow off through the overflow 4 or it can be let ofi by hand through the valve 5. As-the gas is consumed it flows out the service pipe 7, and the bell will descend gradually until eventually the chain 27 tightens and the plunger is again lifted from its valve seat so as to permit more water to drip upon the carbid. Meanwhile the rise and fall of the bell has given a rotation to the cage l0 by means of the toothed bar 17 and the retaining pawl 15, so that the water dripping out of the bore Q2 now flows onto a fresh charge of carbid. From time to time the parts are separated for cleansing and recharginv.

What is claimed as new is 1. In an acetylene gas generator, the conibination with the main tank, a basin therein having an open upper end, the annular space between these members serving as a water seal, and the bell whose lower end is seated in said seal; of a carbid cage having a horizontal axis, hangers in which the extremities of said axis are journaled, hooks on the hangers removably engaging the upper end of the basin, a thin ratchet wheel fixed around the cage, a spring retaining pawl within the basin engaging said wheel, a toothed bar of V-shaped cross section depending from the i bell and its angle engaging the teeth of the ratchet at the opposite side from the pawl, a reservoir, and regulable means for delivering water from the reservoir upon the cage.

The operator cage supported within the bell; of a reser` voir carriedon'the closed upper end of the bell, a feed pipe leading-from the reservoir through the top of the bell above the cage and having a valve seat in Yits bore and a water inlet above said seat, a plunger movable within the pipe and adapted to close upon said seat by gravity, and a flexible support leading from the plunger to a fixed overhead point sufiiciently high to permit the withdrawal of' the bell from the tank.

In an acetylene gas generator, the combination with the concentric tank and basin open at their upper ends and having a liquid seal between them, a bell having an open lower end seated in said seal, a carbid cage supported within the bell, and means for iniparting intermittent rotation thereto; of a reservoirearried on the closed upper end of the bell, a feed pipe leading from the reservoir through the top of the bell above the cage and having a valve seat in its bore and a water inlet above said seat, a plunger movable within the pipe and adapted to close upon said seat by gravity, and a flexible support leading from the plungerto a fixed overhead point sufficiently high to permit the withdrawal of the bell fromt-he tank.

4. In an acetylene gas generator, the.eom bination with the concentric tank and basin open at, their upper ends and having a liquid seal between them, a bell having an open lower end seated in said seal, and a carbid through the bottom of the reservoir and pro- Y jecting through the top of the bell above said cage and having a valve seat in its bore and water inlets above said seat, a plunger movable within the pipe and adapted to close upon said seat by gravity, a rod-rising from the exterior of the tank, an arm projecting fixedly therefrom at a point safticiently high to permit the withdrawal of the bell from the tank, and a flexible connection between said arm and plunger.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two'witnesses.

ERASMUS IV. SHOIVALTER. lVlt-nesses:

M. F. NEWLY, P. P. IVARNER.

Copiesl of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

